Reclaiming History from Below:
The Story They Told Us is a Lie
A Presentation for the Global Solidarity Movement with the Zapatista Communities:
Friends, family, and sisters and brothers of the Americanas Zapatistas
Reclaiming History
We are often told that history is a settled record—a museum of statues and dates. But as we see in this "Semillero" convened by the Zapatistas [10:57],
history is not a graveyard;
it is a battlefield.
In this session, Raúl Romero and Carlos Aguirre Rojas take us on a journey to understand how those at the top of the "pyramid" use history as a weapon. For the state, history is a tool of legitimacy. They take our heroes, strip them of their radicalism, and put them on banknotes to tell us that the "Revolution" has already ended, and they are its heirs [26:12].
But Romero reminds us of the "pueblos without history"—the communities that the colonial and neocolonial powers tried to erase [18:47].
He speaks of the 1712 Tzeltal rebellion and the Seri insurrections—voices that the official history books refuse to name [24:19].
The lesson for us is clear: When a people loses its history, it loses its identity. And a people without identity is a people easily conquered [20:05].
The Science of Truth vs. The Trap of "Decoloniality"
Carlos Aguirre Rojas pushes the conversation further. He challenges us to look beyond the "hard words" of academia [01:12:44].
While the current "progressive" governments in Latin America use the language of "decoloniality" to ask for apologies from the Pope or the King of Spain for crimes committed 500 years ago, they simultaneously repress, despoil, and silence the indigenous peoples of today [01:26:59].
Rojas argues that true history belongs to the people who build the world—the ones who make the factories run and the fields grow [01:34:51].
This is the wisdom of experience. While the elite provide a history that is 90% lie, the people hold a history that is 90% truth because they are the ones living it [01:34:09].
He takes us back to a pivotal moment: December 1914. For a brief window, the popular armies of Villa and Zapata controlled Mexico City [01:49:02].
He asks a haunting "what if": What if they had marched on and built a radical peasant republic? The entire history of the 20th century, and the global dominance of U.S. imperialism, might have looked different [01:50:39].
This "interrupted revolution" is a reminder that the future is never written in stone; it is always open to the organized and the brave.
Autonomy as the New World
The Zapatistas are not just theorizing; they are building. Through their concept of "el común" (the common) and the non-property of the people, they are showing that a non-capitalist world is not a dream—it is a reality in the mountains of Southeast Mexico [01:53:35].
They have replaced the hierarchy of the doctor with the "health promoter" and the authority of the teacher with the "education promoter" [01:32:30].
They are teaching us that to survive the "storm" of the "hydra" (capitalism), we must look long-term—prepared to fight for 120 years if that is what it takes [01:52:16].
A Story of Love and Heartbreak
The video concludes with a lighter, yet equally sharp, touch: a story about Dení, a first-generation Zapatista girl [01:58:21].
Through the lens of childhood, we see the Zapatista ethic: a deep suspicion of those who seek individual glory over collective liberation, and a recommendation to always have a way to escape the traps of "patriarchal" or "state-led" love [02:02:44].
Our Call to Solidarity
To the communities in resistance across the Americas: This video is your mirror. It asks you to be the "archivist of your own rebellion." It asks you to doubt the "history from above" and to trust in the collective intelligence of your neighbors.
We don't need titles to be wise. We only need the memory of our struggles and the courage to plant the seeds of a world where many worlds fit.
Watch the full video and join the "Semillero" here:
SEMILLERO “DE PIRÁMIDES, DE HISTORIAS, DE AMORES Y, CLARO, DESAMORES”, 27 de diciembre 2025
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